


New Friends

by ohmymcgrath



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Winn and Lena are my brotp, Winn ships Supercorp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 15:19:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14404887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmymcgrath/pseuds/ohmymcgrath
Summary: After the gala, Winn gets to meet Lena properly. And may just decide to help her get his best friend.





	New Friends

Winn shifted uneasily on his feet, his finger hovering over the small button that would summon the elevator. He'd already walked away from the sleek mechanical doors twice only to turn around and stalk back, and he knew he was drawing the attention of the guards stationed in the lobby but he still couldn't summon the courage to press the button.

He dropped his hand and ran the other through his hair, blowing out a nervous breath. He rifled through his coat pocket for the small slip of paper he'd been toying with all afternoon, reading over the scant but by now familiar words written on the expensive letterhead.

_L-Corp. Floor 24. 1:15pm._

Not a dream, then.

Another breath and a quick glance around the lobby to assure himself that this was, in fact, the L-Corp building, and he finally lunged forward and crushed the button before he could lose his nerve, shuffling inside when the elevator doors parted before him.

That morning, a woman he hadn't recognized had showed up at his desk at Catco claiming to be Lena Luthor's assistant. Jess, if he remembered correctly, though if he was honest he'd frozen on the name _Lena Luthor_. And then again (was that possible?) when the woman told him that said Luthor was asking if he could come by to 'chat' this afternoon.

She took his wide eyes and gaping mouth for a yes, apparently, because she scribbled that one line on L-Corp's fancy paper and held it out to him, smiling until he took it in his shaky fingers and then off she went. He'd stood there for a solid five minutes afterwards just staring at the empty space where she'd been standing until James showed up and asked him if he was alright.

"Lena Luthor wants to talk to me," he whispered reverently.

James just looked at him curiously. "Huh. What about?"

And the floodgates broke.

"I have no idea," he answered, a giddiness he couldn't control bubbling through him. "Lena _Luthor_ , James. My idol. Wants to talk to _me_. I didn't even know that she knew who I was!"

James shrugged. Actually shrugged, as if Lena Luthor practically _summoning_ you was no big deal.

"Well, you did help her with that generator at the gala," he told him. "You should go. It's pretty slow here, anyway. Even Kara is out trying to find a story so you probably won't miss anything," he went on.

Winn barely heard him. Winn barely heard anything for the rest of the morning, most of his attention riveted on the clock as it neared one o'clock. As soon as the hour struck, he rushed out of his seat and flew down the hall, missing the way James chuckled and shook his head from his office.

It wasn't until he was standing in front of L-Corp that the nervousness began to settle in. His hands began to feel clammy and his feet shifted anxiously as his stomach churned because what could _Lena Luthor_ possibly want with _him_.

Maybe he'd messed up her field generator, he panicked for a moment, the thought being the first to send him shuffling away from the elevator before he forced himself to stop and turn back.

Now, as the elevator climbed upwards, it was excitement rolling through him as he watched the buttons light up until the doors opened on the twenty-fourth floor.

"Can I help you?" the woman at the desk asked without looking up. He recognized her as the assistant who had visited him earlier and he cleared his voice as he approached her desk.

"Hi, uh... I'm Winn Schott?" he announced as calmly as he could. "You said Miss Luthor wanted to see me?"

She looked up at once and smiled at him, and he had to admit he breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh! Mr. Schott, of course. I'll let Miss Luthor know you're here."

She shuffled around her desk and hurried to the wide double doors that he knew at once to belong to Lena's office. They were huge, and her secretary's knocking seemed to echo in the large room behind them. She poked her head in at a response that Winn couldn't hear and after a few short moments, the CEO herself pulled open the door to greet him, holding out her hand.

"Mr. Schott, it's good to see you again," she said, her voice pleasant, and Winn could hardly believe it. "Thank you so much for coming."

"O-of course. Not a problem, Miss Luthor," he said eagerly, praying his hand wasn't sweaty as he shook her hand. "And Winn is fine."

Lena chuckled under her breath, her smile warming. "Alright Winn. And it's Lena, please."

He rolled the name around in his head but didn't quite dare to say it aloud, grateful when she gestured for him to follow as she led the way back to her office. He took the seat in front of her desk when she sat down behind it and watched as she first crossed her arms and then uncrossed them, fiddling with her fingers instead. It was a nervous gesture Winn hadn't expected, and immediately put him at ease. 

"I realized that I never got to thank you properly," she said finally. "For your help at the gala."

Winn made a sound that was half snort, half laugh and entirely embarrassing. "Oh that; that was _nothing_. Glad I could help."

Lena lifted one of her eyebrows, the corner of her mouth twitching. "It wasn't nothing. Not many people would have known how to properly assemble an induction coil on a black body field generator. Especially under pressure."

Winn tried not to beam too widely at the praise and settled for a shrug. "It was your device, Miss- Lena. A lot of people walked out of that party safely because of you."

_Including Supergirl_ , he added to himself, knowing how proud Kara had been of Lena for what she did that night. She hadn't stopped talking about it for a week.

"Well, be that as it may, I'm wondering if perhaps you might be willing to lend me some of your expertise again," she said.

Winn could scarcely believe it. "You need... my help?"

Lena smiled. "I'm trying to create a more portable device, similar to the generator, to use in case an event like that ever happens again. Something that can help neutralize electromagnetic weaponry and keep people safe should those kinds of guns ever make their way into criminal hands again. Of course it would be handed over to the proper authorities. I feel like it's the least I can do considering... Well..."

She trailed off, her eyes dropping to where her hands were twisted together. Winn saw something flash across her face, something vulnerable, and it occurred to him that even when they were under attack at the gala he'd never seen her falter. But now, now he noticed the weight on her shoulders and the guilt in the slight tremble in her fingers.

Kara was so very right about this woman, he thought.

"That's very..." he couldn't think of a better word, " _good_  of you, Miss Luthor."

Her head snapped up and he saw the surprise on her face for the shortest of moments before her features slid into those of the poised CEO he was used to seeing. 

She cleared her throat. "Yes, well, it is a bit easier said than done. Particularly because a black body field generator isn't designed to be mobile. Not to mention the complications of needing to account for the varying frequencies and wavelengths associated with alien weaponry, neither of which we can really anticipate without knowledge of the weapons beforehand. Perhaps you might be able to help?" 

Winn could barely contain his excitement and all the ideas already forming in his head. Lena needed only to slide a piece of paper towards him and quirk an eyebrow and he launched into a discussion about electromagnetic radiation signatures and tracking algorithms and a host of other things that J'onn might actually kill him for talking about but which he felt no hesitation in sharing with Lena. Lena, who finished half his sentences (honestly, she really was a genius) and who seemed so eager to simply _help_  that he drew up a few designs for her without a second thought. 

When the technical conversation ebbed somewhat, they started to make small talk, filling the silence as they shuffled ideas back and forth. She asked how he'd come to know so much about physics and engineering and eventually that segued into his job at Catco. 

"So you... You're friends with Kara, right? Kara Danvers?" she asked, her voice caught somewhere between fondness and nervousness. 

Winn just smiled. "Yeah, we're good friends. I've known her for years. She's crazy about you, you know."

He put the finishing touches on a diagram he'd been drawing. He didn't immediately notice that Lena had gone quiet until the silence dragged on and he looked up to find Lena biting on her bottom lip, her cheeks tinged pink.

He tried to figure out what he'd said and, then, to clarify. "I just mean that she talks about you a lot."

"Not all bad things, I hope," she said with a self-deprecating smile. 

Winn snorted. "Are you kidding? She adores you. She's always talking about the work you're doing here, the things you're trying to accomplish. I've never seen anyone so... proud of someone the way she is of you. This, for instance," he gestured to the papers between them. "She's going to love it."

Lena went quiet again, and this time Winn didn't miss the look that came over her face. It struck him, just how familiar that expression was. 

Wait... Did Lena _like_ Kara?

He considered the thought in his head for a moment, wondering how he might feel about it if it were true. It took all of two seconds for him to shake his head at himself. Because of _course_. He hadn't really noticed the way they had looked at each other at the gala, hadn't thought twice about how often Kara talked about Lena and the look that came over her face every time she did. But, really, how could he have _missed_  it?

It was longing he saw in Lena Luthor's eyes, in the wistful turn of her mouth. The same longing that he saw on Kara's face every time she came back to Catco after one of her 'lunches' with Lena. And he suddenly felt even more excited thinking about setting up his two best friends (and okay, maybe it was a little early to call Lena a 'best' anything, but he thought she was just about the best person ever and that was close enough for him) than he was about field generators. 

And that was saying something.

"Hey," he cleared his throat, trying very hard to hide how badly his cheeks wanted to smile and look casual, "we're actually having a game night this weekend. You should come."

The soft, eager smile that spread over Lena's face was worth ten particle accelerators, for sure. 

The hug she gave him as he left, telling him he was welcome back anytime to help with the new generators, was worth twenty.


End file.
